A First Look at Konect's New Park & Ride Buses

Konectbus have been showing off their new Park & Ride buses this week, at various locations. This morning, 624 SN65OAC was parked at Harford Park & Ride along with Anglian's very own David Jordan who was giving out the new timetables and answering any questions from the public.

Old and new: the last remaining old Park & Ride liveried bus passing 624 at Harford this morning.

This was the first time I had seen one of the new buses up close and personal and I must say I am very impressed. The livery looks fantastic in the flesh, and the look is completed by the smart and relevant vinyls. Inside, the buses have moquette seating with leather headrests and wood effect flooring, like on the Straight 8, but instead of USB charging points, they feature visual and audio next stop announcements.

Downstairs, there is plenty of room for wheelchairs and buggies

Upstairs is light and airy

and features a next stop screen which can be seen to the right.

One feature I had not been aware of from the beginning was that the bus hosts two destination screens on the front of the vehicle. On the right hand side of the screen is a smaller, more expensive display which can incooperate different colours into the destination. I was told today that no decisions have been made as to what colours each display will be yet, as Konectbus are keen for them to look as neat as possible, but for now the colour of the route number will replace the colour of the bus on each route.

624 displaying the new Harford Park & Ride display, complete with blue route number

The display on the rear of the vehicle can also accomodate the different colours, however the screen on the nearside door cannot.

Remember the new services commence on Monday, with a fleet of 18 brand new buses complimented by a selection of refurbished vehicles.

For a full list of the new buses, click here.

It may also be of note that when I went to the City, the buses operating Harford were 500 YJ05PXA and 602 SN10CFF alongside the last remaining Harford branded bus 601 SN10CFE. Upon my return, 601 had been replaced by 510 LB02YWX and 500 had been replaced by ex-Thickthorn 502 YJ05PXC.